Pin Feathers
by Prophetic Fire
Summary: Uyo's day just got longer when a strange rash starts appearing on the backs of some of the troopers.


AN: Not all of these OCs are mine. Mids & Gunner belong to AO3 user subtropicalStenella, Anomaly and Killer belong to AO3 user Starofwinter, and Stick, Poke, and NJ belong to AO3 user Kristsune. They were kind enough to let me borrow them.

* * *

"It just…it won't stop _itching_ , and I can't figure out _why_ , and it's driving me _crazy,_ Uyo, please, _do something."_

"Okay, Aerie, I'd love to help, but I need you to _sit down."_

Uyo all but cornered Aerie against one of the exam tables, to stop her pacing. She bounced on the balls of her feet, restless, before huffing out a _"Fiiine,"_ and hopping up onto the table.

"Top blacks off, please," Uyo said, sliding his hands into sterile exam gloves. Aerie complied, unzipping her flightsuit and freeing her torso, then peeling off her blacks and tossing the shirt in a heap on the table across from her. Her fingers drummed restlessly against her thigh as Uyo approached.

"You do seem to have a rash of some sort, right here," Uyo said, brushing his hand lightly across Aerie's shoulder blades, where a reddish patch of small raised bumps was blooming. "Have you been scratching it?"

 _"Of course I've been scratching it,"_ Aerie all but hissed, squirming Under Uyo's touch. "Hells, Uyo, please, scratch it for me, you're making it itch _worse."_

Uyo ran his hand a little more firmly across Aerie's back. The friction from the glove would have to be enough; he didn't dare risk using anything that could break the skin. It seemed to be working, at lease for the time being, because Aerie gave a satisfied grunt and her squirming settled.

Uyo patted her back and stepped away toward the medical cabinet. He pulled out a tube of cream. Squeezing some onto his glove, he gently applied it to Aerie's back, working it into every section of the rash. Aerie hissed slightly.

"It's cold."

"It feels cold because your skin is so heated. Just be gentle. I want you to take this with you. Apply it twice a day, and in a few days check back with me so I can see how you're doing. Okay?"

Aerie nodded. "Got it." She reached for her blacks and redressed, bouncing off the exam table and all but skipping out of the medbay.

"And don't scratch!" Uyo called after her.

* * *

"Hey Doc!"

"Doc! You got any ointment or anything? I don't know what Mids touched, but he gave it to me, and now I've got all these itchy bumps––"

"Pretty sure it was whatever _Gunner_ touched and gave to _me_ , but yeah, you got any anti-itch or anything?"

Uyo looked up from his paperwork at the two pilots, shifting their weight about as though they were ready to crawl out of their skin. He reached for his exam gloves. "On the table, gentleman. Let's have a look at what's going on."

Mids and Gunner scampered onto the exam table, shedding their top blacks. Uyo looked them over. They both bore the same reddish patch of raised bumps across their shoulder blades.

"What do you think it is, Doc?"

Uyo frowned. "It could be anything, at this point. Probably just skin irritation. Here." He retrieved another tube of cream from the medical cabinet and slathered it across both of their backs. "Take this, and put it on twice a day. I trust that you can help each other with that?"

"Yes sir!" they said in unison, grabbing their blacks and heading for the door.

"And don't use it inappropriately!" Uyo shouted after them.

* * *

Uyo looked into his caf mug and sighed. Empty. He stood up and made for the door, but the sounds of shuffling and hushed conversation outside made him pause.

"Aerie, I'm fine, really."

"Sleenshit Anomaly, I saw you itching. Just go in there and tell Uyo."

"It's really fine; I don't––"

"Come on."

The medbay door slid open and Aerie strode purposefully through it. Uyo could see Anomaly standing in the corridor beyond. He tried to give him a reassuring smile.

"Anomaly's been itching too; can he use the same stuff you gave me?" Aerie asked.

Uyo sighed and set his cup down, reaching for another pair of exam gloves. "Well, it's possible, but it could be something else too. I'd have to take a look at it, just to be sure."

Aerie strode back out into the corridor and took Anomaly's hand, gently but firmly tugging him toward the medbay. "You probably have what I have, but Uyo wants to be sure. Come on."

Anomaly trudged in behind Aerie and sat himself on the exam table, pulling his blacks over his head. "I'm fine," he said again, "it just itches a little."

Uyo inspected the raised bumps on Anomaly's skin. "Yes, this does seem similar."

Aerie pulled the tube of cream out of her pocket. "So he can use this same stuff?"

Uyo nodded. "Twice a day, come back in a few days to let me know if anything's changed."

Aerie squeezed a gob of it onto her hand and smeared it onto Anomaly's back. "See, we can share! Now don't you feel better?"

Anomaly shrugged. "I suppose." He slid off the table and pulled his blacks back on. Aerie tugged at his hand again. "Okay come on, I don't wanna miss the heavy gunner sparring match."

Uyo's eyebrows shot up. "There's a heavy gunner sparring match?"

Aerie and Anomaly were all but out the door. "Yeah, at nineteen hundred!"

Uyo glanced at the chrono. 18:57. He looked at his empty cup of caf. He sighed again.

* * *

Bleary-eyed, Uyo felt for his comm. He rolled over in the darkness, groaning. Where _was_ it? Oh there it was. Oh, hells, didn't Stick know what _time_ it was?

"Uyo here."

"Uyo, it's Stick. Is this a bad time?"

"No, hang on, just lemme get somewhere else."

Uyo carefully shifted out from under Gala's arm and stumbled into the main section of the medbay. He slumped at his desk. "Okay, what is it?"

"Kriff, Uyo, you don't look exhausted enough to be a medic. 327th is too nice to you. Should transfer you to a softshell job."

"Get karked." A smile twitched at the corner of Uyo's mouth, mirroring the twinkle in Stick's eye on the holoprojection.

"No can do, brother. Poke's up to his elbows in bacta requests and I'm backing up triage intake on the ship. Lot of pilots out of commission on this one. Rash of air attacks lately. Actually, rash of…rashes, lately. That's why I comm'd. You notice anything like that over there?"

Uyo was fully awake now. "Yeah, actually. Four cases today at least. Maybe more, but I lost track when the heavy gunner sparring match rolled through."

Stick gave a chuckle, then was back to business. "I talked to Killer; he's with the 212th right now. He said they've been getting it over there too. You think it's related?"

"Could be. Did Killer say who's got it?"

"Ozone and Convor for sure."

"And I had Aerie, Mids and Gunner, and Anomaly today."

"NJ was the first over here, but I'm seeing it on all the pilots coming through. They change their armor or something?"

Uyo frowned. "There's got to be some connection we're missing. I'll think about it."

Stick looked quickly over his shoulder. "Yeah I gotta go. But let me know if you find anything."

The holoprojection flickered out. Uyo rested his head on his desk briefly, then with a groan swiped up his caf mug and headed out the door.

* * *

"Hey I know it's only been a couple days but I think it's getting worse?"

Aerie fidgeted near the foot of one of the exam tables. Uyo grabbed a pair of exam gloves, fixing her with a concerned look. "Worse how?"

"It's…it's hard, and kind of prickly. And it _still itches._ And it _hurts_ now too."

Uyo nodded toward the table. "Let's have a look then."

Aerie hopped up onto the table and shed her top blacks. Uyo ran his hands over her shoulder blades. He could feel two distinct lumps below the skin. Aerie winced.

"It hurts when I press on it?"

"Yes."

Uyo frowned. "I'm gonna grab a medisensor and see what I can detect. I'll be right back." He ducked into the equipment room to grab the necessary scanner. As he was powering up the device, from the main room there came a sudden "BWAAAA!" of surprise. He rushed back in, to find––

Feathers. Little downy feathers, everywhere.

He looked at Aerie. She stared back at him in shock. Slowly, she reached over her shoulder, feeling. Uyo moved closer for a better look.

"Uyo is that what I think it is?"

Before he could answer, a chorus of "Doc! Doc! Doc! Doc!" came barreling up the corridor. Mids and Gunner burst into the medbay, top blacks off, spinning in circles and pointing at each other. "Do you see them?" "Did you see this?" "We both have them!" "Aerie you have them too!" "This is awesome!"

"Gentlemen!" Uyo tried to slow them down. "Troopers, please–– Mids, Gunner, stop moving––" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught more movement, and he looked toward the door. Anomaly stood there, half in, half out of the medbay. He held his arms folded over his chest, keeping his back to the wall, but Uyo could see the telltale shapes. They were tiny, on all of them they were tiny and helplessly fluttering. But Uyo had a sneaking suspicion that they would soon become a much, _much_ bigger issue.

Sighing, he grabbed his comm and walked back into the equipment room. "Stick, it's me. Yeah. We should have seen this coming. They were all karking _pilots."_


End file.
